A wireless standard may define one or more frequency band modes and a frequency band mode may designate a radio frequency (RF) band and a set of operational RF restrictions. The frequency band may be divided into a set of frequency channels and the RF restriction may define the allowed frequency channel bandwidths, transmitting power level, spectrum emission mask, a receiver frequency filter, and the like. Thus, a user equipment (UE) in compliance with one frequency band mode may communicate with and roam into a wireless network that supports the same frequency band mode.
It is not uncommon that one frequency band mode has overlapping frequency channels with another frequency band mode. For example, the UEs of the first frequency band mode may roam into a wireless cell of the second frequency band mode. Yet, the UE of the first frequency band mode may not be able to communicate with the base station due to the differences in the RF restrictions of the two frequency band modes. One example of multiple frequency band modes is the Band 17 and Band 12 of Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard Release 8 as defined by 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The frequency band mode supported by the UE may be indicated to the network in a UE capability signaling. The frequency band mode supported by the network may be signaled to the UE in a broadcast signaling. A specific frequency numbering scheme is associated with each frequency band mode.